


Scratches

by jojibear



Category: KAT-TUN (Band), Kanjani8 (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-14
Updated: 2012-11-14
Packaged: 2017-12-30 09:43:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1017091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jojibear/pseuds/jojibear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A year into their relationship, Ryo and Tatsuya decide to move in together. The ensuing discussion lasts for all of five minutes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scratches

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kyjr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyjr/gifts).
  * Inspired by [You](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1006302) by [kyjr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyjr/pseuds/kyjr). 



> A remix of Amy's story "You", and a gift to her for inspiring me to write Johnny's fiction again.

A year after they get together, they decide to live together. The ensuing discussion lasts for all of five minutes.

"We should just live together," begins Tatsuya as he puts down his mug of morning coffee. "We're practically joined at the hips anyway, according to our band-mates."

Ryo, who had paused mid-sip to regard how serious his boyfriend was being, placed his mug down on its mat and bit his lips contemplatively, before finally saying, "Your place," and picking up his mug again.

Tatsuya blinked. "Are you sure?" he asks, peering worriedly at the other man.

"You have a piano – a _grand_ piano," Ryo reasons, reaching out to snag a piece of toast off Tatsuya's plate.

"Okay," agrees the pianist, "my place."

And just like that, it was decided.

* * *

One afternoon, long after Ryo has made Tatsuya's place his own, as Tatsuya was composing at his grand piano, Ryo asks his boyfriend to tell him a story.

"What do you want me to tell you a story about?" questions the pianists, not looking away from the manuscript paper on the music rack, twirling a pencil as he debated on whether or not to break the chord.

Ryo shrugs. "Anything you want."

"Well, you'll have to be more specific than that," says the man at the piano, playing the chord he had been contemplating about twice, first as a block chord, the second time as an arpeggiated chord. "I'm not like you – I can't just spout things off the top of my head."

The Osakan strums a few chords on his acoustic guitar, thoughtful.

What should Ryo make Tatsuya talk about? Logically, there were so many things he could ask the other man about, so many things he still wanted to learn about his boyfriend. Like those dates Tatsuya's mum apparently goes on with Yamapi's mum.

Then it hit him.

_"This piano has a lot of scratches,"_ Tatsuya had murmured before asking Ryo to do him hard enough to leave more marks on the instrument.

Ryo remembers the first time he had turned up at Ueda's house for those lessons and saw the grand piano, sitting in the middle of the room as though it owned the room, its polished black surface a stark but beautiful contrast to the sea of white around it.

To this day, it is still one of the most beautiful sights Ryo had ever laid eyes upon (even more so with his _hime_ seated on the bench behind it).

"Tell me about your piano," he blurts out, his mouth flying ahead of his mind. "Tell me about the scratches on your piano."

A jarring, dissonant chord crashes through the room as Tatsuya looks over the music rack at him in surprise. "What?" questions the pianist, his expression a little stupefied, a little dreamy. Ryo can only guess where his boyfriend's thoughts have drifted off to.

"That time…" he begins, his eyes drifting down to look at the sea of manuscript paper scattered across the floor as he trails off because however wonderful that first time had been, he was _not_ going to actually talk about it (again)… _ever_. Still, he had to somehow get his point across, so he racked his brain for some way of getting his point across.

He finds that he doesn't have to, though: Tatsuya is already up and absentmindedly tracing one of the faint marks on the glossy surface. There's a somewhat melancholic look on his face.

Ryo's feet carry him over to stand beside this boyfriend, a shoulder gently pressed against the other, the back of their hands faintly touching. It's not comfort by any means because he can't comfort if he doesn't know what's wrong; instead, he hopes his boyfriend understand that it's reassurance, that it's okay for Tatsuya to tell him whatever he wants, whenever he wants.

"I used to use this piano like a table," whispers Tatsuya, his low voice tinged with the slightest bit of amusement. "My mother used to scold me for pressing the pen too hard on the paper and leaving behind marks on the lid." His fingers trace what looks to be part of a sentence.

"This piano's been my companion for so long I don't remember a time when I didn't have it," he muses, gliding a finger up to a deeper scratch and catching a nail in the dip. "When I was really young, I would get into a lot of fights with my parents because they were really strict about grades and how I used my time. It made me really angry a lot because all my friends were out having fun whilst I was stuck inside studying calligraphy or something.

"At the time, the piano was kept in my bedroom because I really liked to play. But every time I became angry, I would punch my bedroom wall and a few times, bits of the plasterboard would fly off," he laughs humourlessly, digging another fingernail into the scratch. "This scratch was first of a few made by large bits of plasterboard flying into the piano."

Unconsciously, Ryo finds his hand reaching up to cover Tatsuya's, his thumb reaching round to rub soothing circles into the other's palm.

"I thought you had a good relationship with your parents," the guitarist comments simply, gently squeezing the hand in his grasp and moving it away to a shallower etch.

"We've learnt to let go of the past," answers the pianist. "We won't talk about what happened but sometimes, when I look at this piano closely, I can still hear their words ringing in my ear."

They stand there together, Ryo's shoulder pressing a little more firmly into Tatsuya's side and his fingers guiding the other's to trace patterns over the piano lid that may or may not have anything to do with the existing scratches. They don't say anything, but they don't need to, content just to be beside one another. This time, Ryo knows his gestures are ones of comfort.

For a while, they stay like that, head leaning against each other as they watched their hands dance across the polished piano lid.

"You know," Ryo begins after a while, "we should totally make more scratches on this piano."

Tatsuya jerks his head to look directly at him, trying to gauge how serious the Osakan is being.

"I'm being serious!" huffs the guitarist, a little frown creasing his forehead.

The other man laughs, reaching up to smooth the crease out. "I know, Ryo. Thank you, but I already have beautiful memories associated with the scratches on this piano."

"We could always make more," whispers Ryo as he leans in for a kiss, "so many more."


End file.
